Survivors & Healing

"My life feels as though it has been reborn."
Interim Reparative Measures Project

For decades, Mr. T.S. carried the weight of what he experienced during the Khmer Rouge era largely alone - without recognition, without support, and without a space to speak about what he had endured.

Through the Interim Reparative Measures project, that changed. With access to livelihood support, skills training, and opportunities to take on a leadership role within his community, Mr. T.S. began to rebuild - not only his own life, but his sense of dignity and belonging.

Today, he describes his experience in the project as a turning point. His story is a reminder that recognition and support, offered with respect and care, can open doors that decades of silence had kept closed.

Gender Justice, Youth & Education

Young people leading the conversation on gender-based violence
Gender Justice through Learning and Reflecting on SGBV

In Samlot district, Battambang, it was not a teacher or an NGO worker who led the conversation - it was the students themselves.

The Youth Friendly Club organized an awareness-raising session on gender-based violence and its impacts for 32 community members, the majority of them young women. Drawing on what they had learned through Kdei Karuna's coaching and their own research, club members facilitated a discussion that connected the history of the Khmer Rouge era to the realities of their own community today.

For participants, the session opened up new understanding - and new questions.

"I learned clearly about the terms of sex, gender, and sexual and gender-based violence during the Khmer Rouge and its impacts on the survivors."
Sav Sok Srey Neang, Grade 10, Samlot High School

"Although I have learned about this topic before, this is new knowledge for me."
Soth Visal, Grade 10, Samlot High School

Memory, Dialogue, Justice and Reconciliation

"They no longer have to live in the past alone."
Justice and History Outreach Project

When survivors and young people sit together to talk about the Khmer Rouge era, something unexpected often happens - not just learning, but healing.

Through the Justice and History Outreach project, structured intergenerational dialogue sessions bring students and survivors together in schools and communities across five provinces. For many, it is the first time these conversations have happened across generations.

For the young people, it is a window into a history their textbooks could not fully convey.

"Dialoguing with grandparents can help them feel better - they no longer have to live in the past alone."
Ms. PHO Thichhlada, Grade 10, Chipho High School, Svay Rieng

For the survivors, it is something they had waited a long time for - the chance to be genuinely heard by the next generation.

"After the dialogue with students, I felt happy because I could share the events I experienced during the Khmer Rouge era with my grandchildren."
Mr. TEP Kosal, survivor, Takeo Province

"I want to send a message to the next generation to remember my suffering and ensure that such a regime never happens again."
Ms. KOA Mentong, survivor, Kampong Thom Province

Strengthening Voices & Mobilizing Support

"Restoring dignity and providing a voice to survivors."
Interim Reparative Measures Project

Being a survivor is one thing. Having a formal role in shaping the decisions that affect other survivors is something else entirely. As a member of the Project Steering Committee, one survivor from Kampot province took on a responsibility she had not held before - representing her community, validating project decisions, and advocating for the official recognition of the Older People's Association by the Commune Council.

That recognition came. And with it, something larger: a commitment from local authorities to provide annual financial support to the association - ensuring that survivors would continue to receive support beyond the life of the project.

"As a member of the Steering Committee, I helped secure official recognition for the OPA from the Commune Council, restoring dignity and providing a voice to survivors. I am proud that our collective efforts resulted in the allocation of national budget resources to support OPA operations, directly benefitting survivors and strengthening community resilience."

Her story is a reminder that survivor-centered work is not only about support - it is about power, agency, and the right of those most affected to shape their own future.